Science

Scientists at Concordia University may have found a solution to this problem: A system that automates the control of indoor environmental conditions and optimizes both individual workers’ productivity and energy consumption. No matter the season, thermostat wars rage in offices worldwide. Workers bicker over the temperature, alternately complaining that it’s too hot or too cold. Thankfully, Concordia researchers may have …

New analysis of the mitochondrial genomes of ancient remains by a team of researchers from McMaster and Memorial University has revealed previously unknown information about the first peoples of Newfoundland and Labrador and the origins and disappearance of the Beothuk. The timing and relatedness of various indigenous communities that settled our most northeastern edge remains mysterious. Specifically, was there a …

Scientists have found that the last common ancestor of apes and humans was likely small, probably weighing about 12 pounds — about the size of a gibbon. At some point in the Miocene epoch, between about 23 million and 5 million years ago, the various hominoid species emerged in all their diversity. But given the scarce fossil record, paleontologists and …

Getting paid to stay in bed might seem like paradise, but everyday tasks like showering, shitting, and sleeping comfortably become nearly impossible when you’re lying down all day. Twelve volunteers will arrive this week at the German Space Agency’s (DLR) Institute of Aerospace Medicine’s :envihab facility to lie in bed for a month in the name of science. NASA’s Human …

Physicists and engineers from Cornell University have taken inspiration from octopus skin to design a new stretchy camouflage material. Those animals can change their skin into a textured 3D surface to mimic the ragged outline of seaweed and coral on the ocean floor. The team’s pneumatically-activated material is inspired by the 3D bumps – called papillae – on octopus skin, …

The astronauts showed tricks of Spinneret in space (video) This is a great way to experiment with laws of motion of Newton. NASA Astronaut Randy Bresnik’s video might give us an idea. Bresnik and his fellow crew members played with the popular toy in space, and even showed off their own zero gravity flip and spinning tricks. While he was …

MilkweedWatch, an online platform to track the presence of milkweed throughout Canada, launched Monday Oct. 9 by a team of researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Ottawa. The citizen science program will help Canadian scientists track milkweed, a plant that provides critical habitat for the endangered monarch butterfly. Laurier researchers are asking Canadians to enter their observations …

A huge, mysterious hole has been spotted in sea ice near Antarctica, researchers reported this week. Holes in the ice are common enough that there’s a name for them: polynias, borrowed from the Russian word for water surrounded by sea ice. But this particular polynia is unique for two reasons. It’s very large, and it’s located far away from the …

The Swiss company Climeworks has launched a pilot plant in Hellisheidi, Iceland, that can capture carbon dioxide directly from the air to be pumped into underground rock formations, effectively locking the greenhouse gas away for good. The project, called CarbFix, has developed a way to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, pump it deep underground, and transform it into stone. …

Pumas, or mountain lions, are mostly thought of as solitary cats — lone predators, stalking in the night. But new study suggests the felines are more social than previously thought. Until now, scientists believed pumas interacted only to mate, settle territorial disputes and raise offspring. But a combination of GPS-equipped collars and motion-triggered cameras allowed a group of researchers with …

According to genetic analysis, Newfoundland, the northeastern Canadian island, was populated by three distinct groups — in three different waves — over the last 10,000 years. When researchers analyzed the DNA of two known cultural groups, the Maritime Archaic and Beothuk, they found the groups brought unique matrilines to the island. The findings are published in Current Biology on October …